Rainy Days and Footy

Hi All. Sorry for the lack of recent blogging. Melbourne has been a bit rainy and cool and we have been a little blue and homebound. It doesn’t make for very exciting writing. Everything had been moving forward at rocket speed and we were due for a slow down. That is now upon us. We are a little bored without friends and entertain ourselves with card games, cooking, and spinning contests on our rotating bar stools. It’s amazing how fast those things can go and how dizzy one can become. If you come for a visit, you will have to try it.

We have moved in to our new apartment and it is absolutely lovely. I guess we knew it would be good to be out of the hotel, but we had no idea it would be this nice. Our building is a bit of a monstrosity in a beautiful neighborhood surrounded by big houses and wonderful greenery. Our apartment is located near the Yarra river which provides access to good trails and an excellent bicycle path. It’s bit of a walk for coffee or groceries, but we like our oasis in the center of the city. It is springtime here and the flowers are starting to bud and the trees are growing bright green, unnatural looking, leaves. The air outside smells like Eucalyptus trees and apple blossoms.

The apartment is white on white and it feels luxurious. Our landlord is my coworker’s mom and she is treating us well. Her daughter was living in the apartment but is now an expat in the UK, so we can live here until she returns. She basically just packed her clothes and left the country…kind of like us. So, the home is fully furnished with everything from utensils to a big flat screen TV. Our landlord bought us new sheets, new towels, new plates, artwork for the walls, a new couch, a patio set for our balcony, and a little orange tree for decoration. The bed is the most comfortable bed we have ever slept in and we feel like we are living in a five star hotel. The all white everything has us a bit nervous and every time we want to eat dinner in front of the TV, we line the couch and floor with towels and blankets. The first night we were here, we just plunked down on the plush carpet and giggled ourselves silly.

My high school reunion was last weekend and I am sorry to have missed it. It sounded like it was a fun event. Some of the photos of the event were sent via email and I sat on my (white) couch here and wondered who those people were. There were only 77 people in my graduating class but I couldn’t tell who a couple of those folks were! I think they were imposters. This happens to everyone, doesn’t it? Perhaps it was a good thing I wasn’t there with my foot in my mouth.

Today in Melbourne is the “Super bowl of Australian Rules Football” so we are hanging out in our apartment watching the grand footy final. Neither of us knows what is going on but it has that general football feel...the day is cool, the excitement of the game is on, and we are nestled in with a good supply of chips and chocolate. Good Saturday activity. Geelong is absolutely killing Port Adelaide and the announcers are saying things like “It’s a serious boot bashing for the Power here today…or…Moody can now join the orgy of Geelong kickers” Eric is even reacting to the disappointment and successes on the field. It’s pretty funny. As I write, he is stretched out on the carpet having a good nap and emitting the occasional snore. He’ll come to life in a few minutes and deny that he was ever sleeping.

Speaking of Eric, he is having someone help him get his CV Australia-ready and will hopefully begin some interviewing and job activities soon. I fear things are a bit dull for him but I will brag that he now knows how to make the perfect poached egg breakfast and absolutely divine coffee. He can also cook up a mean pizza and has mastered our extremely complicated washing machine. I’m so happy to see him here when I get home and he is equally happy to have me walk through that door.

Tomorrow is Sunday and we will probably have breakfast in an interesting neighborhood called Fitzroy and then head out of town to the Yarra Valley vineyards in the north.

Well…footy is almost over….my sleeping Eric awakens…and it is time to get out on our bicycles. It’s 2:05AM at home right now and I wish you all a good sleep and pleasant dreams.